Modern Vespa

This was my scooter groups first ride of the season. We curved around Lake Minnetonka out into the country to Watertown for our rest stop. Then on to Lake Waconia and a great restaurant "Lola's Lake House Restaurant" that over looks the lake. Good food, good friends and great country trails.

I had not rode my scooter since last October. I took it off the battery tender, dusted it off, and off on the trail of adventure.

You will notice my gang have moved to CanAms. Still, half are traditional scooters. We even had a Yamaha Morphous.

Bob Copeland
Minn-Max Scooters of Minnesota
Website: Minn-Max Meetup.com

Now that you've owned the 550 for a while Bob, how does it stack up to the Burgman?

ks1000ST,

Sorry for the delayed response. Susuki Burmand's were and are the standard for Maxi-Scooters. I had my Burgman 400 for 15 years - loved it and did not move up to the Burgman 650 because I did not like the weight.

As I have previously posted, when the Kymco 550 came out at the same weight as the Burgman 400, I jumped at it. Something new after 15 years with significantly increased power. The two scoots even look somewhat the same.

At first, I had trouble getting use to all the throttle power. The Burgman would smoothly and slowly excellerate. The Kymco was like a rocket that would push your head back at any rpm or speed point. The Burgman at 60 miles per hour would slowly climb to 75 miles per hour, while the Kymco willl jump there almost instantly.

I have become accustomed to this increased power. Took a while. Even today, if I am leading a group ride on backroads at 50 mph, I have to focus more on the speedometer to make sure I am not going 60 mph at any instant.

Most riders would love that power. Took me a while. The bike is better balanced than the Burgman and has vastly expanded electronics. My old Burgman did not have ABS brakes. This Kymco will stop on a dime. I never had and absolutely love the heated hand grips (Three levels). Especialy here in MInnesota when riding is cold in the beginning and end of the season.
The Kymco has the same foot forward riding position which is as comfortable as the Burgman. Also, it is keyless. You carry a fob.

On balance, the 2022 Kymco AD550 is superior to the Burman and I am glad I bought it. I still can not figure out all the electronic features - I am an old fart. There are three full screens on the dash. You could GPS or land an airplane with this stuff. So many electronics, you have to plug the big into a tender when not riding. My dealer installed a a plug in under the front fahring.

Great Scoot, Bob Copeland